1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to siliconized surgical needles. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to siliconized surgical needles having reduced tissue penetration force and methods for making such needles employing a coating mixture of at least one polydialkylsiloxane and at least one other siliconization material.
2. Background of Related Art
In general, the siliconization of metallic cutting edges of articles such as, for example, razor blades, hypodermic needles, scissors, scalpels, and curettes, is known. For example, Dow Corning Corporation's Dow Corning® MDX4-4159 Fluid has been used to siliconize cutting edges with an ambient temperature and humidity-curable mixture of an aminoalkyl siloxane and a cyclosiloxane dissolved in a mixture of Stoddard solvent and isopropyl alcohol.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,673, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein, discloses the silicone coating of a cutting edge employing a siliconization fluid containing a mixture of copolymerizable silicones made up of an aminoalkyl siloxane, specifically a (polyaminoalkyl) alkoxysilane, and a dimethylpolysiloxane.
Other examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,258,013 and 5,458,616 which disclose coating surgical needles with a siliconization material containing an aminoalkyl siloxane and a cyclosiloxane employing ultrasonic radiation. The siliconization material can be applied in a solvent carrier, e.g., hexane or heptane.
Yet another example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,355 which discloses coating surgical needles by (1) coating the needle with a coating solution comprising a highly condensable polydimethylsiloxane in a solvent to form a leveling coat; (2) evaporating the solvent from the first coating; (3) curing the leveling coating to polymerize the polydimethylsiloxane; (4) applying a second coating solution over the leveling coat comprising a polydimethylsiloxane having amino and alkoxy functional groups and a solvent; and (5) evaporating the solvent from the second coating.
It would be advantageous to provide siliconized surgical needles which exhibit significantly reduced penetration force upon each passage through tissue during a suturing operation.